SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Founders vs. Early Employees To help with this discussion, let me start with a definition of "early employee." The first few people into a startup are on a spectrum of founder vs. early employee. Founders are likely not paid for a long time and have a sizeable equity percentage for early risk and having the concept.

Early Stage 391

Early Stage Equity CTO Hire Sweat Equity 391

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

With all other things equal, that means that a 50/50 split between two co-founders (evenly split if there are more than two), or a 66/33 split based on the premium for coming up with the original idea, and for starting the initial development efforts and sourcing the original team. Whose idea was it? How important is this person’s role?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 1, 2007 Entreprenuer Network Great post by Ben Kuo - The Importance of the “Network&# to Entrepreneurs - the informal connections between people in the technology industry here who have a vested interest in helping entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Networking Southern California Los Angeles 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2022

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock Options 343

Stock Options Advisory Board Stock Startup 343

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. Unless you’re fortunate to have one or more technical founders, you’ll quickly be faced with this simple question: Do we hack out a prototype somehow, find a developer or outsource the development? In Plain English. Archive Jun 20th Sun In-House or Outsource?

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founders Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. On average, the founders who keep the most control over their company make the least amount of money. Lessons Learned.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Equity 237

Equity Stock Options Advisory Board Stock 237

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. Technology cycles have become a treadmill, and for startups to survive they need to be on a continuous innovation cycle. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 9, 2014

Talking to CEO and CTO about role as co-founder/COO. Vesting? > . > Don’t agree to deferred cash, you usually never see this. > > Ask to see the bank account, proof of investment. Often this is a “story” or a hypothetical. How much equity should I ask for? > > Do you have another job?

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Vesting 20

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2017

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock 140

Stock Stock Options Advisory Board Startup 140

www.avc.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

To be clear, these are hires we are talking about, not co-founders. Co-founders are an entirely different discussion and I am not talking about them in this post. Startups should be able to dramatically increase the value of their equity over the four years a stock grant vests.

Equity 64

Equity Employee CTO Hire Fractional CTO 64

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

We had a rough time early on," says Parker, president and chief technology officer of Roving Software Inc. , He suggests granting the options on day one but making sure they vest only upon satisfactory completion of the project. That way, he says, "Vesting is an encouragement for the project to be completed.".

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2013

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock Options 224

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock Options 230

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 230

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2011

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Equity 234

Equity Advisory Board Stock Options Stock 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2015

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock Options 120

Stock Options Stock Advisory Board Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2010

By the way, you will normally only be offered “options,” which vest over a 4-year period after a 1-year “cliff.” CEO brought in to replace the founder, 5 - 10% CTO, CFO, VP of Marketing or Sales, 1.5 - 3% Chief Engineer or Architect, 1 - 1.5% Advisory Board Member, 1% Senior Engineer,3 -.7% 7% Product Manager,2 -.3%

Stock 144

Stock Stock Options Advisory Board Startup 144

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Stock vests for 4 years. So a friend recently called to ask for advice on becoming the CTO of a startup. Best to be a founder. You get 1%, you sell for $150 million and it’s in 3 years (e.g. you won the lottery). That’s an after-tax gain of $287,500 / year for 2 years. Wait a second. Sorry bud.

Stock Options 418

Stock Options Stock Liquidation Preference Option Pool 418

SoCal CTO

MAY 4, 2010

Some great posts from April 2010 that talk to me in terms of being a CTO at a Startup. Redeye VC , April 13, 2010 Startup Development - SoCal CTO , April 23, 2010 Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? Ben Casnocha: The Blog , April 15, 2010 Everyone I spoke with loved the idea.

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Vesting Venture Capital Startup 150

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

They were referring to non-founder engineers, most commonly the first hire for technology businesses. is frequently granted ownership significantly less than that of the founders. However, at the very early stage, they are taking as much risk with their future as the founders. Engineer #1?

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. It’s a very cool vibe at Founder’s Coop. That’s one model.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

thinkspace.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

Office Space. Virtual Office. How to Divide Equity to Startup Founders, Advisors, and Employees. The part that I’d like to zero in on is when you’ve got a high growth company what are some of the best practices out there to distribute equity to the founders, advisors, and employees? Equity for Founders.

Equity 62

Equity Employee Founder CTO Hire 62

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

What are the terms of their relationship with the founder? I’ve also asked this question on Quora.There, I ask for advice on how to best structure this for all parties: The development shop, the founders (outside of the dev shop), and potential outside investors. What are the timelines? The discounts? The cliffs? The fine print?

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

www.metamorphblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Home About Contact Home About Contact The Metamorphosis Becoming an Entrepreneur, by Matt Mireles Startup Lessons for the Proto-Founder I started SpeakerText in October 2008 during the financial apocalypse. You need a Co-Founder, not an Engineering Bitch. Treat everyone you hire like a co-founder. Vest, young man.

Founder 51

Founder Startup Cofounder Vesting 51

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2013

He believed we had a weakness with his CTO. Founders have to live with the day-to-day consequences of their decisions and are closer to the nuances of the business. The CTO had at-will employment with no notice period. He had vested 18 months or so. This was not the first discussion I had had with the CEO. So I fight.

Vesting 344

Vesting Cofounder Salary Sales 344

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? The real question here is: why is it fair for founders to get so much more?

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

After a thorough analysis of those 32 start-up post-mortems, we have determined the common reasons founders gave to compile this list of the top 20 ways to have your startup fail. Work life balance is not something that startup founders often get and so the risk of burning out is high. 13 – Disharmony with Investors/Co-founders.

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. In many cases, one founder has started earlier and brings an important completed piece of work to the table, and that can have great value. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO? Marty Zwilling.

Intellectual Property 252

Intellectual Property Equity Cofounder CTO Hire 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. In many cases, one founder has started earlier and brings an important completed piece of work to the table, and that can have great value. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO? Marty Zwilling.

Equity 228

Equity Intellectual Property Cofounder CTO Hire 228

blog.expensify.com

APRIL 24, 2012

I think the real moral of this story is, (1) if you want to work at a startup, make sure the CTO cares about problem solving and not technology religion, (2) if you’re cooking steaks on a gas grill and you see your CTO warming up a dead squirrel over a book of matches, starting looking for a new job.

Java 107

Java PHP Software Review Coder 107